Device for connecting containers

ABSTRACT

Device for establishing a gastight and fluidtight connection in a horizontal level between two or more containers ( 100, 200 ) of the iso-container type. The device includes a substantially band shaped, elastic sealing member ( 300 ) which surrounds an opening ( 20 ) between the containers to be connected and which is arranged on a supporting surface ( 105 ). A pressure exerting member ( 130 ) is provided to hold the sealing member ( 300 ) tightly against the supporting surface ( 105 ) with tightening members ( 400 ) to force the sealing member ( 300 ) against the supporting surface ( 105 ). The sealing member ( 300 ) in mounted position is arranged with a generally rectangular cross section and is placed against a supporting surface ( 105 ) on the respective containers, generally extending in the main level of the respective containers. The pressure exerting member constitutes at least four generally band shaped members ( 130 ) arranged at the respective flat supporting surfaces ( 105 ) of a container ( 100 ). The pressure exerting member ( 130 ) is furthermore connected to the container with a hinge member ( 131 ) along one of its long edges and is provided with through openings ( 132 ). A number of holding members ( 160 ) are firmly attached to the supporting surface ( 105 ) and are evenly distributed along the entire light opening of the container. A plurality of tightening members ( 400 ) are arranged to enter the respective holding members ( 160 ) and to force the pressure exerting member ( 130 ) against the sealing member ( 300 ) and the supporting surface ( 105 ).

The invention concerns a device for a gastight and fluid tightconnection between transport containers of the isocontainer type asdescribed by the introductory of claim 1.

BACKGROUND

Transport containers, usually designated containers, are widely used forcivil as well as military purposes and/or transportation of differenttype of goods by sea, by train, with container trucks, or by air planesetc. The containers are designed with a framework of steel and a base(floor), side walls and top of flat or profiled sheets. The containersare often provided with swing doors at the short end walls.

In military applications containers are often used for transportingdifferent types of equipment, like weapons, clothes, tools etc, from astorehouse to e.g. a combat area where the containers are emptied whenneeded and left behind. In an attempt to make the most of suchcontainers, office units have been made by cutting out openings fordoors and windows in the container side walls. This solution is howevernot satisfactory for more than one reason. Firstly one is not able toestablish a sufficient seal against war gases, secondly the containerwill be rendered unsuitable for its original purpose unless major repairwork is undertaken subsequent to its secondary use.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,134 describes a container “solution” where thepurpose is to provide a construction that can be used alone and in acombination with two container parts connected end to end. This isachieved by providing an end wall of the container with a band shapedtightening member 35 which surrounds the light opening of the containerend wall 21. The end wall further comprises a stop member 36 with anarea corresponding to the tightening member in order to reduce thepressure strain on the tightening member and to protect the latteragainst mechanical strain both when connected and in stand-alonecondition.

In a connected condition a substantially equally formed container unitis moved towards the first container unit in such a way that therespective tightening members 35 and stop members 36 are brought inface-to-face contact with each other. The container units are heldtogether this way by use of a locking member 42 arranged in each cornerof the light opening, whereby each locking member generally consists ofa bolt 43 projecting through a hole in the edge of the end wall, alocking pin 61 to lock the bolt tightly in the hole and a handle 56 tobring the bolt from a locked to an open position and vice versa.

By this construction the relatively narrow sealing/gasket 35 isestablished only on the supporting area of the respective containerunits. This embodiment in combination with the stop members 36 requiresan exact positioning of the container units for the attachmentprocedure. In addition the combination of sealing/gasket 35 and stopmember 36 will hardly offer a seal that is sufficient to establish arequired elevated pressure or reduced pressure in the internal containervolume. Another substantial disadvantage with the known device is thatthe pressure exerting members 42 are relatively long and partly extendinto the opening which is established between the container units whenthey are connected. Such a design therefore will strongly limit thepossibilities of establishing a free passage between connectedcontainers. Further it is doubtful whether the known construction is atall suitable for connecting more than two containers.

NO A 974411 discloses a device for connecting two or more containers ofthe isocontainer type horizontally or vertically. This design generallycomprises a band shaped elastic sealing member which surrounds anopening between the containers to be connected to each other and whichis placed on a supporting surface, as well as attachment members toforce the sealing member against a supporting surface and against theopening between the same. In a preferred embodiment a frame shapedsupporting surface is arranged on each of the container walls to beconnected to a similarly shaped second container, and the preferablyseamless band shaped sealing member is stretched from a verticallyoriented supporting surface on the first container over the gap betweenthe same and to a vertically oriented supporting surface on the secondcontainer. A substantially frame shaped pressure exerting member isarranged close to the vertically oriented surface of the sealing memberon each of the containers. The attachment members then ensure that thegasket in between the containers is forced against the supportingsurface, thereby providing a fluid tight and gastight connection betweeneach of the attachment members and the supporting surfaces, and thusbetween the first and the second container. In this way a gas and fluidtight complex of (several) containers may be achieved.

While this previously known design does enable a further utilisation oftransport containers and established a gastight connection between suchcontainers in a larger building complex, it has several disadvantagessuch as the attachment members needing to be retightened if thecontainers are mutually displaced.

THE OBJECTIVE

The objective of the present invention is to provide an improved devicefor connecting transport containers which is easy to use and inexpensivefor providing a building complex of containers and which prevents anyintrusions of water and gas into the complex.

THE INVENTION

These objectives are achieved by a device according to thecharacterizing part of claim 1. Further beneficial features aredisclosed by the dependent claims.

The invention concerns a device for establishing a horizontal connectionbetween two or more containers of the isocontainer type, whereby thedevice includes a substantially band shaped elastic sealing member whichsurrounds an opening between containers to be connected and is arrangedon a supporting surface. Pressure exerting members are provided to holdthe sealing member tightly against the supporting surface withtightening member(s) to force the sealing member against the supportingsurface.

According to the invention the band shaped and preferably continuoussealing member which in a mounted position has a substantiallyrectangular cross section, is arranged on respective supporting surfacesof the respective containers which is generally level with therespective main levels of the container. Further, the pressure exertingmember constitutes at least four substantially board shaped membersarranged at the respective flat supporting surfaces (walls, bottom, top)of a container. The pressure exerting member along one of its long sideedges is thereby connected by hinge members to the container so it canswing from an elevated position to a lower position. The pressureexerting member is also furnished with through holes for receiving theholding members that are described below. A number of holding members,preferably U-shaped, with legs firmly attached to the supporting surfaceare distributed along the entire light opening (or the free passage)between the containers. The board shaped pressure exerting member is bythe aid of several tightening members forced into encroachment with therespective holding members, thereby forcing the pressure exerting memberagainst the sealing member and the supporting surface.

In a preferred embodiment the connection device according to theinvention is arranged in a counterbore at the end edges of thecontainer.

To protect the sealing material against mechanical damage and/or damagefrom aggressive fluids or gases, a free floating outer supporting boardis preferably arranged in the region between the supporting surface andthe sealing member and over the free space between the two adjacentcontainers.

The width of this board must be at least a little bit wider than thenormal distance between two adjacent containers.

Similarly, a free movable inner supporting board is preferably arrangedin the region between the sealing member and the underside of thepressure exerting members of the respective containers.

In a preferred and practical embodiment, the tightening member isdesigned as a hook with a handle, whereby the hook has a pointed freeend and is gradually thicker towards the handle. The hook is shaped withan outer dimension that allows it to penetrate the remaining free spacebetween the inner part of the hoop and the upside of the board shapedpressure exerting member. This allows the exertion of a pressure forceon the pressure exerting member by lowering the handle of the tighteningmember.

In order to make it easy to establish EMP safeguarding for militarypurposes (safeguarding against electromagnetic pulses from nucleardetonations) and to further increase the tightening effect, a bar shapedsupporting member is arranged on the supporting surface, the surface ofthe supporting member exhibiting projections or bars in a directiontowards the sealing member. The purpose of the bars are to serve as afoundation for electric conductive material for EMP safeguarding and anextra barrier especially against fluid intrusion.

To enhance the pressure force on the sealing member further, a spacingmember designed as a board or sheet shaped disc with a through opening,may if required be placed with its opening over the holding member onthe top of the pressure exerting member.

To accommodate the mounting procedure of the connecting device (in thecorners), the pressure exerting member may also be provided with anextra hinged part which enables exposure of a free space in the corner.This reduces damage to the sealing member when the pressure exertingmember is lowered described hereinafter.

Dimensions and choice of material for the respective components arewithin the knowledge of a person skilled in the art, and are not furtherdescribed here.

The improved design has firstly the advantage that the member whichforces and holds the pressure exerting member against the sealing, andthus establishes a gastight connection, does not depend upon the mutualposition of the containers. Two connected containers can therefore to agreater extent be allowed to move mutually both vertically andhorizontally. Another advantage with the invention is that the need forretightening of the pressure exerting member in order to maintain thesealing is minimalized. In the preferred embodiment where the device hasa counterbore in the edge of the container wall, one will achieve apassage between two containers that is level with the respective floorsand as a result of this also a larger height to the ceiling.

Other advantages with the present device is that it is easier and lessexpensive to produce, it gives better sealing, significantly reduces thepossibility of erroneous mounting, has fewer loose parts, requiresreduced sealing (gasket) size and provides a substantially easiermounting.

In an overall context the present invention thus provides a significantimprovement over the connecting devices known from the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following the invention is described more in detail by use of anexample and the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view through the floor section of twoadjacent containers ready to be fitted with connecting members etc.,

FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view vertically through a region betweentwo connected containers according to line II—II of FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 shows a cross sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, except thatthe sealing member is in the process of being mounted,

FIG. 4 shows a cross sectional view corresponding to that of FIG. 1 andFIG. 3 in a nearly connected and sealed position, and

FIG. 5 shows a stop disk to change the pressure on the sealing member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a first and a second container 100 and 200 with a floorlevel 101 and 201 localized adjacent to each other with a free passage20. In the following, for the sake of simplicity, only the features ofone container is described as the other has corresponding components.The outer wall at the corner (edge) of the lower part of the containerfacing the adjacent container, is designated 102. The underside 103 ofthe container rests on a suitable, mainly flat foundation (not shown).In a preferred embodiment a counterbore is arranged in the edge area ofthe container, having a substantially vertical wall section 104 and asubstantial horizontal surface 105. The surface 105 according to thisembodiment, serves to support the sealing member as described in furtherdetail below, and also provides a lowering of the floor in order toenhance the effective height to the ceiling in the region of theconnection, as well as providing a shelter for the connecting devicewith a protecting cover especially on the floor. A pressure exertingmember 130, here in the form of a band shaped board, is attached to thevertical wall section 104 of the container with the aid of a hingemember 131. Member 130 is free to swing about one end (a long end) froma position substantially horizontal to a position substantiallyvertical. The pressure exerting member 130 has further been providedwith a series of through holes (best shown by 132 of FIG. 2) forreception of substantially hoop shaped (U-shaped) members 160 attachedto the supporting surface 105. The cross section showed in FIG. 1 has acorresponding shape about the entire circumference of the light opening,e.g. an entire long side of a container, or a part of a long side, or ashort side of a container. That is to say the pressure exerting member130 has been provided with said holes (132 of FIG. 2) substantially allthe way around the circumference of the light opening, the holes andcorresponding holding members (160) preferably being distributed equallyaround said circumference.

FIG. 3 shows a cross section corresponding to FIG. 1, except that theconnecting device is in the process of assuming a gas-tight connectionbetween the two containers. A substantially band shaped sealing member300 of a suitable elastic material, e.g. rubber is provided between theU-shaped holding member 160 and 260 of the respective adjacentcontainers 100 and 200.

In a preferred embodiment there is arranged a “floating” generally rigidprotection board 310 (outer protection board), partly to protect thesealing against mechanical stress from the corners (edges) of thecontainers and partly to establish extra protection of the sealingmaterial against aggressive media in the form of gases or liquids. Theouter protection board 310 is shaped with a relatively small thicknessand is allowed to move freely, independent of the mutual movement of thecontainers. In this way one can obtain a better protection and at thesame time allow a certain mutual movement of the containers.

In FIG. 3 the pressure exerting member 230 of the second container 200has been lowered onto the sealing member 300 to accommodate the throughholes of the pressure exerting member (see FIG. 2 and accompanyingdescription) and compress the sealing member in order to establish agas- and fluid tight connection in the passage to the other container.The gasket 300 in the region of the first container is stilluncompressed and rests on the outer protecting board 310 and thesupporting surface 105 of the first container 100.

FIG. 2 shows the connecting device according to the invention in a crosssection along the line II—II of FIG. 3. More particularly the Figureshows a certain part of the lower left corner of the container 100 withcontainer floor 103, front wall 102 facing the adjacent container 200(not shown) and outer side wall 106. The inner wall of the container isshown as 101, while the attachment board for the pressure exertingmember is shown as 104.

From bottom to top in the horizontal cross section of the container,there is shown the outer protection board 310, sealing member or gasket300, preferably an inner protection board 320 (see also FIG. 4 withcorresponding explanation) as well as hinge member 131 for thecorresponding board shaped pressure exerting member 130. The holdingmembers 160 are here designed as U-shaped hoops, of which only the upperparts are shown projecting in the region behind the sealing member 300and protection boards 310 and 320. In the board shaped pressure exertingmember 130 holes 132 are formed in positions corresponding to therespective holding members 160 so that the pressure exerting member canbe lowered over the holding members.

The vertical section of the container cross section parallel to wall 106shows sealing member 300 with corresponding protection boards 310′ and320′ (FIG. 2) corresponding to the horizontal section. Here the pressureexerting member 130′ has been lowered over the corresponding holdingmembers 160′. The end position for the horizontal board shaped pressureexerting member 130 is adjusted to the height (or the distance from thesupporting surface for the vertical pressure exerting member 130′) sothat the horizontal pressure exerting member 130 can swing freelywithout conflicting with the lowered vertical pressure exerting member130′ (or vice versa, dependent upon the order of assembling).

In order to achieve an extra compression of the gasket in the cornerarea, there is arranged a substantially rigid angular profile 170 incontact with the supporting surface of this section. A correspondingseparate angular profile may be arranged on the other container, andcorrespondingly in the inner corner part of the pressure exertingmembers 130 and 130′ (facing the interior of the container (not shown).

As described above, in order to case the mounting procedure of thecorner sections of the connecting device, the pressure exerting member130 may also be provided with an extra hinged part 133 orientedsubstantially perpendicularly to the hinge member 131 thus establishinga flap at the end of the pressure exerting member 130. This flap may befolded aside to expose a free space at the corner in order to reducedamage to the sealing member when lowering the adjacent pressureexerting member.

FIG. 4 shows a cross section corresponding to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, withthe exception that the connecting device according to the invention isnearly at a connected or sealed position.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a tightening member generally designated 400,shaped like a hook with a gradually increased thickness from the pointedend 401 of the same and equipped with a handle 402 for its operation. Inthe left part of FIG. 4, at container 100, the tightening member 400 hasbeen entered into the remaining free opening of the hoop shaped holdingmember 160 and lowered towards the pressure exerting member 130 so as toestablish a pressure force onto the same and thereby onto the sealingmember 300 and the supporting surface beneath. In the right hand part ofFIG. 4, at container 200, the tightening member is partly inserted intothe remaining free opening of the holding member 160, ready to force thepressure exerting member 230 down towards the sealing member 300 beneathby moving the handle 402 down towards the pressure exerting member 230.

The protection board 320 is further provided in the region between therespective containers and between the upper surface of the sealingmember 300 and the lower surface of the respective pressure exertingmembers 130 and 230, thus establishing primarily a mechanical protectionfor the sealing member 300.

FIG. 4 also shows a preferred embodiment where long and narrowsubstantially bar shaped supporting members 115 and 215 are arranged onthe supporting surface between the holding members 160 and the outerfree moveable protecting board 310. Members 115 and 215 projectsubstantially along the entire area of the surface, e.g. the floor, ofthe relevant container section. The supporting member 115 is furtherprovided with a rib shaped surface that runs along the light opening ofthe container. In this way an extra sealing for prevention of anyintrusion of liquid media is obtained with reduced free space for thesealing member and the enhanced compression of the same. In addition thesupporting member 115 can be used as support for an electric conductingmember (e.g. chicken wire) stretched over the supporting member 215 ofthe other container for the purposes of EMP safeguarding.

FIG. 5 shows a drawing of a substantially board shaped spacing member500 provided with an opening 501 corresponding to the openings 132 ofthe pressure exerting member 130. The spacing member 500 can be used forreducing the remaining free opening of the holding member 160 (and 260)thus enabling a potentially larger pressure force and compression of thesealing member.

In the above description and the accompanying drawings only preferredembodiments are shown. A person skilled in the art will on the basis ofhis basic knowledge be able to design alternative embodiments within thegeneral concept of the invention. As an example the generally U-shapedholding member can be designed as a hook with an open side.Alternatively the substantially board shaped pressure exerting membermay be designed with an angle in its back edge and hinged to the bottomof the container or the supporting surface of the recessed (lower) partof the same. In a less preferred embodiment the connecting deviceaccording to the invention may be attached directly to the floor part ofthe container without the use of a recessed floor section. In the lattercase the connecting device should be covered at least at the floorsection by some kind of door sill. In addition the board shaped pressureexerting members 130 may be divided into several sections along e.g. afloor section or constitute a unity that alone runs along the entirefloor section

In an alternative embodiment the pressure exerting member 130 isprovided with a longitudinal upturned edge with a height that may beless than a fourth of its width. Together with this pressure exertingmember a holding member may be used that differs from the one describedas 160 in that is has a hook shape or “L”-shape with an outwardly openside. It may e.g. be designed with a sharp angle with a narrow edge bythe projecting end of a bracket of sheet material, with an angle of thesaid edge of 3°-5° relative to the supporting surface.

Alternatively a wedge may be used as a tightening member with asubstantially board shaped wedge section and a corresponding angle sothat contact over a surface area is obtained when it is used. The wedgemay be equipped with a projecting end part or “head” in order to beknocked in or out. This embodiment has the advantage that the pressureexerting member may be exposed to pressure farther from its axis. At thesame time this solution is based on simple elements that may be usedwith no training. The connection of two containers may be made by oneperson in a relatively short time.

In a further alternative embodiment a projecting “paw” with an inwardnotch from below into its free end may be used. The “paw” may have afork shaped lever with a crosspeg which can be positioned into the notchwhile the holding member is being forced in.

When using the above described alternative embodiments for actuating thewedge effect, use of the wedge provides a balance in the force exerted.This makes it possible to eliminate the hinge of the pressure exertingmember to the container. It also makes a more complicated mountingoperation, but may give a satisfactory connecting effect.

What is claimed is:
 1. Device for establishing a connection in ahorizontal plane between two or more containers (100, 200) of theiso-container type, the device including a substantially band shaped,elastic sealing member (300) which surrounds a free opening (20) betweenthe containers to be connected and which is arranged on a supportingsurface (105), pressure exerting member (130) to hold the sealing member(300) tightly against the supporting surface (105), and tighteningmember (400) to force the sealing member (300) against the supportingsurface (105), characterized in that the sealing member (300) in mountedposition is arranged with a generally rectangular cross section and isplaced on a supporting surface (105) on the respective containers, thatthe pressure exerting member constitutes at least four generally bandshaped members (130) arranged at the respective flat supporting surfaces(105) of a container (100), whereas the pressure exerting member (130)is connected to the container with a hinge member (131) along one of itslong edges so that it can swing from an elevated position to a lowerposition and being provided with openings (132), that a plurality ofholding members (160) are firmly attached to the supporting surface(105) and are evenly distributed along the entire opening, and that aplurality of tightening members (400) are arranged to enter therespective holding members (160) to force the pressure exerting member(130) against the sealing member (300) and the supporting surface (105).2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it is arranged ina recess (104, 105) in an end part of the containers.
 3. Deviceaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the holding member (160) isdesigned as a substantially U-shaped hoop with its legs attached to thesupporting surface (105).
 4. Device according to claim 1, characterizedin that a free moving protection board (310) is arranged in the regionbetween the supporting surface (105) and the sealing member (300) andover the free opening (20) between the two adjacent containers (100,200).
 5. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a freemoving inner protection board (320) is arranged in the region betweenthe sealing member (300) and the underside of the pressure exertingmember (130 and 230) of the respective containers (100, 200).
 6. Deviceaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the tightening member (400)is shaped as a hook (401) with a handle (402), wherein the hook has afree pointed end and is gradually thicker towards the handle.
 7. Deviceaccording to claim 1, characterized in that a long and narrow bar shapedsupporting member (115) is arranged on the supporting surface (105), theupper surface of said bar shaped supporting member (115) includingprojections or bars (116) projecting in a direction towards the sealingmember (300).
 8. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that aspacing member (500) provided with openings (501) is arranged on theupper side of the pressure exerting member (130) with the opening (501)located over the holding member (160).
 9. Device according to claim 1,characterized in that the pressure exerting member (130) at one or bothends is equipped with a second hinge member (133) oriented substantiallyperpendicular to the first hinge member (131) so as to establish a flapwhich can swing around an axis perpendicular to the first hinge member(131).
 10. Device for connecting in a horizontal plane two or morecontainers of the iso-containers type said device including asubstantially band shaped elastic sealing member which surrounds a freeopening between the containers to be connected wherein a pressureexerting member is arranged on a supporting surface, to hold the sealingmember against the supporting surface and a tightening member isprovided to force the sealing member against the supporting surface,characterized in that the sealing member in a mounted position isarranged with a substantially rectangular cross section and is arrangedon a supporting surface of the respective containers, that the pressureexerting member consists of at least four substantially board shapedmembers arranged at the respective flat supporting surfaces of acontainer, that holding members are firmly attached to the supportingsurface, a plurality of said holding members being evenly distributedalong the entire opening, and that a plurality of tightening members arearranged to be inserted into the respective holding members in order toforce the pressure exerting member against the sealing member and thesupporting member, said tightening members being arranged to cooperatewith the holding members with contact over a certain area or overseveral separate contact points.